Tag Archive: convention

Conjour was a lot of fun. Even though it was billed as a SF/F/H convention, the way the panels were laid out, I was able to select my own “track” and concentrate on the ones specifically geared for writers. Panels I attended were: Mining Ideas from Myth and Folklore, Character Development 1, A private reading and discussion by Paul Cooley, Character Development 2, Plot Development 2, Podcasting, Critiquing for Others, Revising Your Work, and Publishing. I missed the first day, and it turns out that I missed another writing panel on I had intended to attend (Writing 101), but it was from 9:00 to 10:00 PM & I was just too beat to hit one that late – especially considering the hour-long drive I had to get back home.

One of the highlights for me was meeting Paul Elard Cooley, a local horror writer and podcaster. He was pleasant and down to earth. Gave me hope, seeing one of the good guys making it. Oh, and speaking of “it”, here’s a picture of Paul clowning around.

And by the way Paul – the pony tail goes in back. 🙂

Since I’m looking at podcasting my novel, I took the opportunity to talk to Paul and Dead Robots Society co-host, Terry Mixon to glean what I could from those who have gone on before me. There was a really informative panel on the subject that I attended on Sunday also. It was hosted, of course, by Paul and Terry, along with author and podcaster Jody Lynn Nye (her profile lists her as the author of more than forty books, including collaborations with Ann McCaffrey and Robert Asprin). It was a really informative panel. Topics they covered included the equipment they used, software, and techniques for using them. There was also a bit of general advice regarding voicing characters and protecting your voice while doing so (something I hadn’t considered).

I should mention that this panel seemed to have the most active question and answer section of all the panels I attended. Seemed we all wanted to know something more about podcasting. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before the panelists were able to get to all our questions. One of the main topics I wanted to find out about was licensing, and it was of course, one of the things they didn’t have time to get to. I guess I’ll have to contact Terry on The Dead Robots Society forum for more information when I get ready to go forward on that aspect. I need to get a better understanding of the differences between copyrighting and creative commons licensing. Still, for now there’s no need getting ahead of myself.

Besides the writing “track”, there were of course the typical SciFi, Fantasy, and Horror fan activities. One of the most interesting groups to me were the Steampunk folks. I find steampunk really fascinating, and wish I still had access to a machine shop. Some of the items they had were things I could have whipped out pretty easily back in the days when I had a Bridgeport mill available to me.I saw several folks in really intricate steampunk costumes, and would love to try my hand at creating some of the accoutrements that many of them sported. A particular item that caught my attention was a “rifle” that one of the dealer tables had for sale.

If I heard correctly, the thing was going for $2500!

It sported an after-market paintball gunbarrell, brass gears and fittings, wooden stocks, a bipod, some lights and other electrical doodads. It really looked cool, but I hope I heard the price wrong. It was nice, but I don’t know if it’s $2500 worth of nice. Maybe the maker doesn’t really want to sell it and is pricing high to keep it?

Who knows? All I can say is it gave me several ideas on how to make similar devices.

All in all, Conjour 3 was a blast, and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in any aspect of SF/F/H or gaming, from writing to participating.

Today, I’m attending a local SF/F convention at the University of Houston – Clear Lake called Conjour. It is a small con, nothing like the ones I used to attend a few decades ago, but they have some surprisingly good and high quality speakers for a convention this small. Sat in and recorded a panel earlier called “Mining Ideas from Myth and Folklore”. It was moderated by Patricia “P. L.” Blair, and speakers were: Bill Fawcett, Michael (Mickey) Finn, Robert Stickmanz, Beverly Hale, and Lou Antonelli.

The panel was informative and a lot of fun, and I can only hope the recording turned out all right. If so, I’ll pass it on to the guys at The Dead Robots Society to podcast if they want. Going to go now. Probably grab a bite for lunch before the 1:00 panel on “Character Development”.